Ophthalmos
A. Next, we have an instrumental of means, which is composed of the following in the Greek text:
1. Instrumental masculine plural definite article tois (toi~$).
2. Instrumental masculine plural form of the noun ophthalmos (o)fqalmov$), which is ophthalmois
(o)fqalmoi~$).
B. Classical
1. The noun ophthalmos, “eye” is derived from the root op-, and has been used abundantly from Homer
onwards.
2. It is not simply synonymous with omma, which also means, “eye,” has a more specialized use.
3. The word has both a literal and figurative sense:
a. Literal: physical eye of the body
b. Figurative: Dearest, best
4. The eye was often considered by the Greeks as the most important part of the body since it linked him to
the world surrounding him.
5. In Homer, Aeschylus, and Pindar it was used to refer to the face and in Pindar and Plato it was used in a
poetic sense of the eye of heaven, sun and the moon, as also expressing the ideas of light, well-being and
that which brings comfort.
6. In general the opthalmos, “eye” is the highest means of contact with the world around and is the organ of
perception.
7. Greek sagas continually mention multi-eye beings such as Argus with his 100 eyes.
8. Figuratively, the word means, “that which is dearest and most loved” as in the apple of one’s eye.
9. At the same time the eye is generally associated with man’s relation to God, his fellow men and the world
around.
10. In Greek the “eye of the soul” gains insight into the cosmos.
11. Moral concepts are associated with the eye.
12. Sophocles used the word in the sense of “to look coveteously, to cast jealous glances.”
13. In Aeschylus and Sophocles it is used in the sense of being awake or guarding oneself.
14. Sometimes the eyes were associated with tasks and qualities.
15. Liddel and Scott (Greek-English, New Edition, page 1278):
a. Eye
b. The eye of a master or ruler
c. The eye of heaven
d. The dearest, the best, as the eye is the most precious part of the body, hence of men; light, cheer,
comfort
e. Eye or bud of a plant or tree
f. A surgical bandage covering one or both eyes
g. Architectural, in dual, the disks forming the centers of the volutes of an Ionic capital
C. LXX
1. The noun ophthalmos appears approximately 700 times in the LXX.
2. It is used primarily in the LXX to translate the Hebrew `ayin (iy!u^), which conveys the idea of “seeing,
making note of, judging” (Gn. 13:10, 14; Is. 35:5).
3. The word is used in anthropomorphic sense of God seeing in Deuteronomy 11:12.
4. It has a figurative sense meaning “perceive” or “judge.”
5. To keep a matter before one’s attention is another application of the term.
D. NT
1. The noun ophthalmos is used some 100 times in the Greek NT.
2. The word is used quite often for the literal physical eye of the body.
3. It is used metaphorically for the human soul (Mt. 6:22-23) and the kardia, “heart,” which is a part of the
soul in Ephesians 1:18.
4. Ophthalmos is employed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:16-17 in the metaphor of the physical body where he
likens the church to the physical body in that there is unity and diversity.
5. John uses the word in Revelation 2:18 and 19:12 of the resurrected Christ whose eyes are described as a
flame of fire, which speaks that He will come in Judgment.
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He uses it in Revelation 5:6 to describe a vision he saw in heaven where the eyes in the passage are
symbolic of the totality and perfection Christ’s omniscience, wisdom and insight.
Very rarely, does ophthalmos refer in the NT to God’s eyes in an anthropomorphic sense.
The word is used by Peter in an anthropomorphic sense of God in 1 Peter 3:12 where the eyes of the Lord
are toward the righteous in that He is concerned for their well-being.
It is used in a similar way in Hebrew 4:13 where the eyes of God refer to His omniscience and wisdom.
As was the case in the OT, the eyes are mentioned in the NT with reference to eye-witness (Lk. 2:30; 1 Jn.
1:1; Rev. 1:7).
The eye statistically plays the leading role among parts of the body in general and sense organs in
particular, although this fact does not correspond completely to the significance of the meaning of the eye
as compared to the ear.
Far and away the majority of the passages with ophthalmos have in mind more than the eye as a physical
organ or the faculty of sense perception.
Perception in the sense of recognizing or understanding, characteristic of most of the verbs of seeing in the
NT, is present in ophthalmos as well (cf. Mk. 12:11 par. Mt. 21:42; Lk. 24:31; Acts 26:18; Eph. 1:18).
A special significance is attributed to the sense of sight in that it can be the conveyor of definite
impressions and therefore can be representative of the entire person.
The eye is clearly conceived as the vehicle of sexual temptation in Mt. 5:29; 2 Pet. 2:14.
Ophthalmos is used in connection with the Lord Jesus healing the blind (Mk. 8:22-26; 10:46-52).
Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, “ophthalmos, akin to opsis, "sight," probably from a root
signifying "penetration, sharpness" (Curtius, Gk. Etym.) (cf. Eng., "ophthalmia," etc.). is used (a) of the
physical organ, e. g., Matt 5:38; of restoring sight, e. g., Matt 20:33; of God's power of vision, Heb 4:13; 1
Peter 3:12; of Christ in vision, Rev 1:14; 2:18; 19:12; of the Holy Spirit in the unity of Godhood with
Christ, Rev 5:6; (b) metaphorically, of ethical qualities, evil, Matt 6:23; Mark 7:22 (by metonymy, for
envy); singleness of motive, Matt 6:22; Luke 11:34; as the instrument of evil desire, "the principal avenue
of temptation," 1 John 2:16; of adultery, 2 Peter 2:14; (c) metaphorically, of mental vision, Matt 13:15;
John 12:40; Rom 11:8; Gal 3:1, where the metaphor of the "evil eye" is altered to a different sense from
that of bewitching (the posting up or placarding of an "eye" was used as a charm, to prevent mischief); by
gospelpreaching Christ had been, so to speak, placarded before their "eyes"; the question may be
paraphrased, "What evil teachers have been malignly fascinating you?"; Eph 1:18, of the "eyes of the
heart," as a means of knowledge.”
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains (volume 2):
a. ‘Eye’ (page 97).
b. The capacity to see – ‘seeing, sight’ (page 279).
c. Capacity to understand as the result of perception – ‘to be able to understand, to come to perceive,
understanding’ (page 383).
A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (pages 599-600):
a. Literally, as an organ of sense perception
b. Transferred from sense perception to mental and spiritual understanding
The New Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon (page 470):
a. The eye
b. Metaphorically of the eyes of the mind, the faculty of knowing
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